Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Something wrong with this, isn’t there? We even call our Lord the Prince of Peace, so how come He says that He will not offer us peace but the sword. More than that, He even says that “He has come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother…” I am not sure about you, but I always have had a problem with understanding these words. I portray Jesus as a gentle, loving, and merciful man. So, why all those harsh words? However, when we look at our world and the history of it, we can begin to understand what Jesus meant. It is not so much that He intended to bring wars and divisions among people, but because of His name the world itself will be divided. And this is so true -- there were those who hated the Son of God from the beginning. Then there were those who even after the crucifixion hated Christianity and persecuted Christians. Even today, there are wars because people hate each other for their different beliefs. Even you and I should not expect to be always loved and respected by others because of our faith. So, Jesus is warning us: if you follow me, expect to be hated by others too.
